Sharia Controlled Zones

"My bill seeks to stop parallel legal or quasi-legal, systems taking root in our nation. There is wide-spread concern that some tribunals applying sharia are going well beyond their legal remit, and some rulings are being misrepresented as having the force of U.K. law. Cases of criminal law and family law are matters reserved for the English courts alone.
"I hope the bill gets through, as I believe it is vital for securing the rights of women in this country."

The bill in question has been tabled in the British House of Lords by Baroness Caroline Cox, calling for Sharia courts to be outlawed where they conflict with the British legal system. Of course those who support Sharia law in Britain or anywhere else, outside Muslim-majority-population countries believe that Sharia should eventually trump indigenous laws of the land. That Sharia law will come to be accepted by non-Muslims as a 'fairer' system of arbitration.

In fact, in Britain Muslim arbitration tribunals set up to rule on commercial and civil disputes have become quite popular, even among non-Muslims. Seven Muslim arbitration tribunals exist now across the country, with 15% of their cases representing non-Muslims who have been more than satisfied with the 'fairness' of their rulings. A fear is surfacing that they could begin to supplant the British court system.

What occurs with the introduction of Islamic laws and solutions to everyday life of people is that familiarity and trust ensues since they deal with all manner of issues common to everyday life. From personal relationships to business and worship schedules, personal hygiene and food preparation, as well as criminal offences. Since Sharia reflects a patriarchal society, women are not given equal consideration. In marriage, in inheritance, in civil rights, in child care.

There is an established estimated 85 Sharia courts in existence in Britain. They operate independently, and make determinations based on their own interpretations of the Koranic principles existing in Islamic texts dealing with the manner in which Muslims should live in accordance with divine precepts. Women are rarely favoured in family disputes, from divorce to the stewardship of children.

Child custody is traditionally given to the father. Men can divorce their wives by uttering a single word, while women must appear before a Sharia council to plead their case; the testimony of a woman during a court hearing is given half the weight of that of a man. By their very nature Sharia courts are opposed to the very idea of equal rights between the genders. Their existence is the leading edge of Islamification of the society in which they exist.

One of the judges sitting on the Layton council, Suhabi Hasan, feels Britain should introduce the penal law where women are stoned for committing adultery. Thieves, under this ancient penal law residing within Sharia, should be persuaded never to steal again by having their hands amputated.
Uneducated Muslim women who have no idea of their rights under the law, marry in the traditional Islamic way, without registering under British law, leaving them with no property-rights protection.

"To understand the impact of Sharia law you have to look at other countries. At its heart it has basic inequalities between Muslims and non-Muslims, and between men and women", explains the former bishop of Rochester, born in Pakistan, who informed the Daily Telegraph three years ago that parts of Britain were being transformed into "no-go" areas for non-Muslims. Around the time that the Archbishop of Canterbury said publicly that allowing Sharia seemed like a good idea.

In Newham a former councillor describes the change he has seen overcome his area in 30 years: "I can no longer walk to my local shops and find anywhere to buy conventional, non-halal meat. Posters at bus stops of swimwear models are spray-painted over with a burqa. Sidewalks are crowded with women wearing not just the face veil, but black gloves to hide their hands."

And at a local primary school Muslim parents were assured the staff would refuse Muslim children food and drink during Ramadan.